Jack the Ripper: The Casebook

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AM: Caroline Maxwell, a witness at the inquest and acquaintance of Kelly's, claims to have seen the deceased at around 8:30 AM, several hours after the time given by Phillips as time of death. She described her clothing and appearance in depth, and adamantly stated that she was not mistaken about the date, although she admitted she did not know Kelly very well.

We welcome to the show John Malcolm, the author of 'The Whitechapel Murders of 1888: Another Dead End?' for a roundtable discussion about Sir Robert Anderson, his 'Polish Jew' suspect and Aaron Kosminski. Join Ally Ryder, Jonathan Menges and Jon Rees as they discuss the first season of Off the Shelf, and decide if they ever want to do a second season. It is likely the case that you are correct and I myself have made the mistake, and so on that basis, I want to tread very carefully; because your research findings differ from mine. The Ripper seemed to follow a fairly regimented modus operandi when dispatching his victims. In many cases there seems to be evidence of strangulation, followed by the severance of the carotid artery, which caused near-immediate death. Then he performed various abdominal/genital/facial mutilations, to varying degrees. On some victims there were only a few cuts and stab wounds, while others were mutilated beyond recognition. Nichols, Beth "Geographic Profiling: Contributions to the Investigation of Serial Murders ." Electronic Thesis or Dissertation. Wright State University, 2019. https://etd.ohiolink.edu/Grainger was caught by the police in March 1895 in the Spitalfields area, after he had inflicted a 1½ inch wound on prostitute Alice Graham's abdomen, after a quarrel over the price of her services. Her wound was considered serious, though not life threatening. He told the police that she was being extortionate. Sentenced to ten years imprisonment, he was released in 1902 after serving seven. It is estimated that it would have taken less than ten minutes to reach Mitre Square. This leaves a thirty minute gap from the time she leaves the police station to the time she is seen outside of Mitre Square. In the course of their travels they returned to Wolverhampton where Catherine gave birth to a child. They return to London but Kate tries to return to her aunt's house after "running away from the pensioner." Her aunt refused her admittance and Kate took refuge in a lodging house on Bison Street. There are several consistent patterns to be found among the Ripper’s victims. Most of them were between the ages of 39 and 47. They were locally resident in the East End, and most, if not all of them engaged in prostitution. Many of them were habitual drunks. They were all estranged from their husbands and families. In the Whitechapel Murders of 1888, one element of the possible modus operandi is the same—except in one event. The women were encountered and they led the killer to places in which they felt secure to have sex. The killing that does not fit this hypothesis is that of Nichols. In that instance the killer met and killed her on the street. Perhaps she was too befuddled to suggest a discreet place to go. In this instance he may have been interrupted and could have been caught. Learning from this, the future murders took place in relatively safer environments.

A lexicon search on the variations will invariably produce the same result - "Jews," with only reference to the group, at large, and not to any person or persons, in particular.

This talk was presented as a portion of the official launch of Adam's eagerly anticipated book 'Swanson: The Life and Times of a Victorian Detective'.